Deutsch Foundation

2016 Awardees

Centinela
Youth Services (CYS)strengthens families and communities by
empowering youth to resolve conflicts and overcome obstacles through mediation
in order to become successful students and contributing adults.

Volunteer:
Denise Yusuff

Denise has been
volunteering with CYS since 2014. Inspired by the mission of CYS, Denise
completed the Community Volunteer Mediator training all in record time, and she
consistently conducts at least two mediations every month. In addition to her
impressive skills as a mediator, Denise offers something that can often be
overlooked, but within the challenging neighborhoods that CYS youth grow up in,
is a highly prized attribute: undeviating consistency. Her reliability makes
Denise a stand out as a mediator for youth and families who have previously
demonstrated or experienced a lack of consistency and follow-through in their
efforts to navigate the courts, or to resolve entrenched conflicts.

Foothill
Unity Centerhelps neighbors in crisis attain
self-sufficiency by partnering with the community and using their resources
wisely to provide vital support services with love and dignity.

Volunteer: Janet Wall

In the five years since Janet Wall retired and
joined Foothill Unity Center, Inc. as a volunteer, her efforts and involvement
have positively impacted the organization in every department and throughout
the community they serve. She is the prime example of a volunteer who goes
above and beyond. From co-chairing and serving on committees for major events,
to helping build the organization’s future by serving on the Strategic Plan
Committee, volunteer recruitment and community education, fundraising, helping
upgrade outdated data systems, and keeping whomever she is with positive, Janet
embodies the true spirit of volunteerism.

human-I-Ttransforms unwanted or unusable technology and educational tools for the
millions in need. Rather than recycle electronic good, human-I-T refurbishes
and donates devices, as well as, provides internet access and vocational
training to bridge the digital divide.

Volunteer: Brandon
Smith

Amongst nearly
100 volunteers that serve human-I-T each year, Brandon Smith stands apart as
our nominee for the Halo Award. He works full-time and unpaid as an Account
Executive—the first position of its kind. As an Account Executive, he is
responsible for donor outreach. Brandon built the system for outreach entirely
from scratch. He analyzed how human-I-T engaged with its donors and wrote
tailored copy for every stage of the donation process. He streamlined the
thousands of phone and email interactions we have each year. By laying this
groundwork, Brandon has significantly cut down the amount of time between first
contact with donors and handing refurbished technology off to clients.

Lake
Avenue Community Foundation(LACF)unleashes the potential of
children, youth, and families in vulnerable communities by providing the tools
necessary to thrive academically, emotionally, economically, and spiritually.

Volunteer: Tonie
Neuwirth

Tonie Neuwirth
began volunteering at Lake Avenue Community Foundation in June of 2002,
one year after LACF was founded. She was introduced to LACF while volunteering
with another organization that used the same space. With her background in
system analysis and IT, LACF had a need for her skill set and she began
volunteering as the Data Coordinator. Tonie helped develop the system for
managing information about donors and now handles the donor database, donor
reports and monthly acknowledgements, as well as miscellaneous administrative
tasks. She has also helped in transitioning donor information to Salesforce.

Public
Counsel protects the rights of disadvantaged children;
fosters economic justice by providing under-served communities with access to
quality legal representation; and represents immigrants who have been the
victims of crime and persecution.

Volunteer: Paula
Bennett

As a Spanish-speaking child of immigrant parents, Paula has offered her services as an attorney
with Public Counsel’s Immigrants’ Rights Project. Since 2014, Paula has
volunteered approximately 1,000 hours per year, providing time-intensive
representation to 12 asylum seekers from Central America and Africa, and
functioning virtually as a free, half-time attorney on Public Counsel’s
immigration team. She has won permanent protection in this country for 7
clients, mostly unaccompanied children from Central America.

Since 2013
Cibele has assisted clients in creating abuse free environments and families.
In doing so, Cibele had to find methodologies to navigate the mistrust of
families and systems that can be less than supportive and confusing, thereby
causing a lack of understanding of the impacts trauma can have on individual’s
capabilities. From the beginning to present, Cibele has brought unrivaled
energy to her volunteerism at the center. Her integrity, passion, and advocacy
to right wrongs, create an equal playing field, speak when others cannot find
their voice, connect to and transform pain and suffering is astounding.